Sugar Wars

Sugar began as a rare luxury extracted from sugarcane in ancient India and Persia. Arab traders spread cultivation techniques across the Mediterranean, while European colonists later established massive plantation systems in the Americas. The industrial revolution mechanized sugar production, making it affordable for ordinary people. Candy evolved alongside this accessibility – from simple honey-based sweets in antiquity to elaborate confections in medieval courts, then mass-produced chocolates and hard candies by the 1800s.